title: A novel membrane-bound E3 ubiquitin ligase enhances the thermal resistance in plants.
abstract: High temperature stress disturbs cellular homoeostasis and results in a severe retardation in crop growth and development. Thus, it is important to reveal the mechanism of plants coping with heat stress. In this study, a novel gene that we identified from Brassica napus, referred to as BnTR1, was found to play a key role in heat stress response in planta. BnTR1 is a membrane-bound RINGv (C₄HC₃) protein that displays E3 ligase activity in vitro. We demonstrated that modest expression of BnTR1 is sufficient to minimize adverse environmental influence and confers thermal resistance on development without any detrimental effects in B. napus and Oryza sativa. Our investigation into the action mechanism indicates that BnTR1 is likely to be involved in mediating Ca²⁺ dynamics by regulating the activity of calcium channels, which further alters the transcripts of heat shock factors and heat shock proteins contributing to plant thermotolerance. Hence, our study identified BnTR1 as a novel key factor underlying a conserved mechanism conferring thermal resistance in plants.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Bio-Resources and Eco-Environment of Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Bin
authors.initials: ZB
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jian-Mei
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Feng-Xi
authors.initials: FX
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yu-Fei
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Yue
authors.forename: Jun-Bei
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Fang-Jian
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.forename: Xian-Jun
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Xun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xu-Feng
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D029688:Brassica napus / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006360:Heat-Shock Proteins; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases
keywords: BnTR1; Brassica napus; Oryza sativa; heat shock proteins; thermal resistance